Ukraine's post office has asked its foreign counterparts to stop sending it mail destined for breakaway Crimea because it can no longer deliver it, the Universal Postal Union says.
The Swiss-based UPU said on Friday that the postal service Ukrposhta had told it the ongoing crisis in the region had created "difficulties delivering postal items" to Crimea, which was taken over by Russia last month.
"Ukrposhta therefore asks the designated operators of UPU member countries to suspend the dispatching to Ukraine of any international postal items addressed to the Crimea," it said in a statement.
The Black Sea peninsula has been the subject of a geopolitical tug-of-war since massive protests by pro-European Ukrainians ousted pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych in February.
Crimea then voted to split from Ukraine and was taken over by Russia, which argued it needed to protect the rights of the peninsula's majority Russian-speaking population.
Ukraine says the separatist referendum and annexation violated international law, and the moves have been widely condemned by the international community.
The UPU said its director general, Bishar Hussein, hoped that all those involved would find an operational solution soon in order to smooth mail deliveries.
The UPU, one of the world's oldest international organisations, was founded in 1874 to facilitate the global flow of mail, for example through the mutual recognition of countries' stamps.
It now has 192 member nations.
